Why attend?

For a global audienceLast year, 1,300 live streaming views from 15 countries in 2017 and a #DigitalFest trend with 97% positive engagement put us on the map and earned us recognition from the BBC, Telegraph, TechRadar and more.

For new connectionsWith over 6,200 new business connections made last year, this is your one stop shop to meet innovators, creators and makers. More than half of delegates did business at last year’s Digital Festival, with two thirds thankful for the collaborative atmosphere.

David Rowan

Founding Editor-in-Chief of WIRED's UK edition

David Rowan is founding Editor-in-chief of WIRED’s UK edition, currently writing a book searching for bold corporate innovation. He’s currently on a global quest for successful examples of corporate innovation in the face of technology-led disruption.

Rowan has interviewed influencers ranging from will.i.am to James Murdoch, Zaha Hadid to David Cameron. He has keynoted on technology, business and innovation themes from Melbourne to Monaco, and has chaired and moderated high-profile events for the UK and French governments, for Google Zeitgeist and TED Global, and for international banks and Fortune 100 businesses.

Rowan has written columns in GQ, Condé Nast Traveller, Campaign, The Times and The Guardian. He also has wide experience as a newspaper editor, including editing The Jewish Chronicle and The Guardian's websites and Comment pages. He has made TV films for Channel 4 News; and has written long features for The Telegraph Magazine, Sunday Times Magazine and Observer.

He's an early-stage investor in 40 tech companies and co-founder of a non-profit taking amazing people for weekend adventures in the world’s most extraordinary locations.

Anne Boden

CEO & FounderStarling Bank

Three decades ago, Anne Boden pioneered the UK’s first same-day payment service – and in the process transformed the future of electronic money. Today, that revolutionary zeal continues to inform her work at Starling Bank, the mobile-only current account app she launched earlier this year.

Recently recognised as one of the Global Power Women in FinTech, Anne’s worked at a senior leadership level across some of the world’s best-known financial heavyweights, among them Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. It was during her tenure as CEO of Allied Irish Banks, however, that she begun to explore the exciting potential of financial technology for transforming customer’s everyday lives.

At heart a tech start up with a banking licence, Starling is a challenger bank built on a foundation of disruptive emerging technology, working to take on traditional legacy banks and help people to develop a healthier relationship with their money.

Jackson Hull

Cheif Technology OfficerGoCompare

Jackson has many years’ experience working at the leading edge of technology and software development. He is also a mentor and investor, advising start-up companies in London and San Francisco. Previously he was CTO at Student.com, leading a global team and building the foremost global marketplace for student accommodation, and at onefinestay (acquired by Accor hotels in 2015), where he and his team re-built the product and experience.

He co-founded Chatterfly, a mobile start-up, which was acquired by San Francisco-based Plum District, the leading daily deal company for mums in the USA. Jackson went on to become CTO at Plum District, which was subsequently acquired by nCrowd.

Earlier in his career, Jackson acted as CTO and VP Product Development, as well as a software developer, at VC-backed Sitoa, the largest US SaaS drop-ship platform provider.

Ken Skates AM

Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure

In 2008 Ken was elected a community councillor. Ken’s policy interests include manufacturing, mental health, sport and leisure, eliminating poverty and political economy. Ken was appointed to the Welsh Government as Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology in 2011. He was then appointed Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism in 2014 and promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure in May 2016.

Ollie Purdue

CEO & FounderLoot

Ollie Purdue is founder and CEO of Loot; the digital current account designed to enable young people in the UK to manage their money better. Ollie graduated with a Law degree in 2014, the same year he started Loot. After struggling with money management apps and clunky banking interfaces at university, Ollie set about building Loot, changing the relationship between young people and their money, no matter how high or low their balance.

Laura Bailey

FounderQadre

Laura is currently Founder of Qadre and Spokesperson for the British Blockchain Association. Previously Laura has founded and run several other blockchain organisations, including Disberse, and Zerado. Coming from an illustrious financial and business development background, she brought a commercial perspective to the blockchain space and its transformational capabilities; seeking to provide tangible services to the public and private sectors through R&D-driven proof-of-concepts, pilots, and products.

Laura also acts as Spokesperson for the British Blockchain Association – an organisation that supports her belief that blockchain adoption can only be realised through a collaborative approach to cultural change-management, governance, academia, regulation, legal, compliance, policy, and technical R&D.

Laura was named on the Innovate Finance Women in Fintech Powerlist 2016, celebrating her movement from leverage finance to transformative technical innovation – something she is passionate about enabling in generations to come.